Love At First Sample!!! 🥰

[heartsmyface]

I know you’ve tried a sample (or ten) of something and it was so magical it made you stop everything and buy a product cause it was love at first sample!  What was it and did the full sized version live up to your initial heart-melted impression? Or is it still on your shopping list to pick up at your earliest convenience?  

The first time I can recall this happening to me was when Sephora still carried Dermadoctor.  I had a sample of their KP Duty Body Scrub.  I used it just to push it through my stash and was absolutely blown away by how immediately soft and exfoliated my skin was!  Instant purchase!   It’s been six years and I have yet to find any body scrub that compares -and I’ve tried!

A more recent love-at-first-sample is the Dior Backstage Face and Body Primer!  It’s a slightly peach tinted,creamy gel consistency and is mega hydrating while blurring subtle imperfections on its own but making foundation apply so smoothly!!!  Plus it has a beautiful floral fragrance which may not be everyone’s cup of tea but it’s very pleasing to me. 🙂  

DIOR BACKSTAGE Face & Body Primer 1.6 oz/ 50 mL 

 

 

[izzydoj]

Ive tried the following samples and immediately after purchased the products:

Farmacy Honey Drop Lightweight Moisturizer 1.7 oz/ 50 mL  Totally lived up to the full size! Such a nice moisturizer for AM/PM! Did not make me break out😍

Glossier Cloud Paint Gel Cream Blush Spark This is my go too blush! Lasts sooooo long and you dont have to use too much because a little goes a long way! 10/10

Armani Beauty My Way Eau de Parfum Travel Spray 0.34 oz/ 10 mL eau de parfum spray Smells amazing, scent lasts all day on my clothes, and is the perfect size! Would totally recommend!

Samples Ive received and LOVED but are too pricey:

AERIN Amber Musk Eau de Parfum 

TAN-LUXE THE FACE Illuminating Self-Tan Drops 

TOM FORD Lost Cherry Eau de Parfum Fragrance 1.7oz/ 50mL 

La Mer Crème de la Mer Moisturizer 

[Titian06]

I've been using a foil sample of the Living Proof Triple Bond Complex Leave-in Hair Treatment 1.5 oz / 45 mL, and I'm in love!  I have fine, thin wavy natural hair and can't believe how much life this product has brought back to my waves.  I will definitely be buying the full size!

The only styling product I used was the original Verb Curl Foaming Gel for Definition + Frizz-Fighting 6.7 oz / 200 ml , then I diffused to almost dry with Drybar Buttercup Blow-Dryer and Drybar The Bouncer Diffuser .  I finish with Moroccanoil Luminous Hairspray Strong Finish 10 oz/ 330 mL .

 

[greeneyedgirl107]

@Titian06 this is your best curls Pic yet!

[peculiarzmakeup]

Your curls are beautiful! I’m so glad to hear of your experience with this sample, and how it’s worked for you! That is exciting 🙂 @Titian06 

[Titian06]

Thanks, @peculiarzmakeup ! 💖💖💖

[CookieGirl1]

Wow, @Titian06, your hair does look really nice!  It looks like it has some body but your curls look so nicely defined.  

[Titian06]

Thanks, @CookieGirl1 ! 😘

[curlychiquita]

Your hair looks beautiful, @Titian06! 

[Titian06]

Thanks, @curlychiquita ! 😘  There have been days when my hair has been virtually straight.  I have no idea what's going on.  This product has really been helpful! 💕

[Ispend2much6]

@Titian06  I think it’s the drier winter air from the heating systems. I’m having the same issue.

[Titian06]

Thanks, @Ispend2much6 !  Mine usually gets less curly/wavy during the winter, but it's really bad this year! 😝

[itsfi]

There's a lot of product packed in these Rare Beauty lipstick foil samples. It probably took me three tries of this Rare Beauty by Selena Gomez Kind Words Matte Lipstick Gifted sample to fall enough in love with it to convince me that a full size was in order after I used up the sample, which I did - it was my only contribution to the Foil Challenge thread last month - only one to close out the year but I went out in style? 😉 I tried to make the other shade Lively work for me but it was not meant to be. If it looked as good on me as it does @peculiarzmakeup it might also have been something I added to my wish list; for that, my wallet is grateful. 😅 

Red and brown lipsticks are not shades I often gravitate towards, but last year saw me picking up or using more lipsticks in those tones. Rare Beauty Gifted is a beautiful combination of the two - it's a neutral-to-cool toned leaning dark red-brown shade. I'm most comfortable wearing it as a stain or lightly dabbed on my lips and topped with a clear balm or gloss but from time to time, I have worn it alone. These wear comfortably, though, interestingly I've found that the deeper, darker shades from the line work best on me. Something I may dig deeper into after my current no spend / low buy ends.

[ather]

@itsfi  This shade looks amazing on you!!!! Holy!!!!! 

[itsfi]

Thank you @ather! I wouldn't have even ventured near this shade but for the foil sample - they were very generous with the amount they give you, and that allowed me to really try different things with it before picking up the full size! 

[ather]

@itsfi  Yes!!! You got the full size! It was made for you!

[itsfi]

Awww, you're sweet, thank you @ather! This is a great example of how valuable foil samples can be, and how to do them right! Lots of product packed into these foils, a plus! With skincare foils, I often need to collect a few foils and then put them to the test so I can really see how it performs, but with makeup, oftentimes the foils contain a lot of uses and if that's the case, it makes it great to test if a full size is warranted. i may make more of an effort to use makeup foils for the Foil Challenge this year. 🤔

[ather]

@itsfi  Good plan! I also need to work on my makeup foils! Maybe we have a side quest? 

[itsfi]

Oh my goodness, I've been meaning to ask you @ather how you go about selecting your foils or if you had a more deliberate approach to that? I plan on doing capsule theme in March probably involving foils again like last year, but I'm trying to figure out a game plan (a flexible game plan because I don't know how closely I'll stick to it, with my foils, lol). Maybe I'll aim for 1 makeup foil sample and 1 fragrance foil/vial a month (?), beginning February. I'm more consistent with my shampoo / conditioner foils and most of my skincare foils are either of products I already use or of ones I'm considering picking up in a full size. So there are not a lot of hurdles to me going through those throughout the year. 

[ather]

@itsfi  That sounds like a good plan! I like the idea of a makeup and a scent foil! I need to add more hair foils too. I have been bad at using foils lately. I need a better approach. So maybe I should pick out a few skincare and hair samples to use each week and then one of the makeup samples and one scent sample. That should keep me in line!! Any other ideas? 

[itsfi]

That sounds like a very good approach @ather; you’ll be getting to use a variety of products. 👍🏼 I don’t think you’ve been bad at using samples so much as you already have a group of products in your current routine that are working well for you - that can make it less likely that you’d reach for a sample to try something new. 

Are your skincare samples of things you’ve used before? Just want to be careful to not introduce too many new skincare too close together. To minimize skin being irritated.